Lack of evidence in case against former town clerk

Shirley Marie Osmond, the former Town of Fogo Island clerk who was charged with fraud and related charges was granted a stay of proceedings.

In Provincial Court in Gander on April 10 Judge Jacqueline Jenkins presented a decision in relation to a constitutional issue hearing. The Judge stated that due to lack of evidence presented by the Crown to the defence, that the accused could not receive a fair trial.

The Judge said the Crown gave a change in management as the reason why the evidence was not provided to the defense. The Court had made an order for disclosure to be provided to the defense on several prior occasions.

Based on this, Judge Jenkins’ final decision was to grant the stay of proceedings for Ms. Osmond.

She was originally charged in March of 2012 with fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000, breach of trust, forgery and uttering a forged document.

The Pilot approached Ms. Osmond following the Judge’s decision for comment but she declined.